A Well Stocked Hostess

Not too long ago, I was idol-worshipping (read: 'watching a Paula Deen special'). Paula was featuring a dessert recipe. She stated that everyone could make the recipe because it only required things everyone had in their pantry. Then she rattled off a small list of items. The audience blinked. Don't y'all have those in your kitchen? She drawled. The audience clearly did not. Then Paula laughed in that Southern way that makes me want to eat a cube of butter just to make her smile! Oh, that woman!

Apparently, Ms. Deen has a well stocked pantry. And I would bet her Southern Charm that it has saved her more than once!

Lesson learned: A key to being a great hostess is a well stocked pantry.

Being LDS, I've grown up with the importance of having food storage. Our church encourages us to have a three month's supply of food in case of an emergency. But it wasn't until I got married that I realized my mother's food storage was slightly different than the normal Mormon pantry. Yes, we had our buckets of wheat. But we also had a wall filled with brownie mixes, frostings, pie fillings, extra cupcake liners, and candles. Plastic forks, extra napkins, food coloring, nuts of every variety, and umberellas for beach drinks all laid neatly in our food storage closet next to the canned beans. I will not forget going food storage shopping as a newly wed and my husband, asking repeatedly why I would need so many nonpariels. Case in point: my mother subliminally taught me Paula's lesson as a small child.

So what do you really need in your pantry to be a well stocked prepared hostess?

Good question. I've done a little research and added a few touches of my own to compile the below downloadable list. You can download it here. You may have to add or subtract things according to your personal recipes and/or taste.

Also, if you want to go the extra mile and stock your pantry Mormon style for three months of daily living - not necessarily entertaining - feel free to download the above photographed inspiration card. I created them for my dear mother a week ago because she was teaching a church seminar on canning. I still have so much to learn from that woman.

Ladies, let's be so fabulous together that when the unexpected party comes our way - we just open our well-stocked pantries with a snobby (but still sweet) smirk and pull off an event to remember!

Blog to you soon,